Poll Finds Gas Tax Repeal, Rent Control Measures Lagging In Support

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Efforts to repeal California’s gas tax and repeal a measure barring rent control are both lagging, according to a new poll from the Public Policy Institute of California.

Proposition 6, the measure to reverse the gas tax approved in April 2017 and enacted in November, has 52 percent of people saying they will vote against it, with 39 percent in favor. In the middle are 8 percent of undecided voters.

50 percent of Republicans favor the measure, while 42 percent and 33 percent of independents and Democrats approve, respectively.

There is no majority support for the measure in any region surveyed in California, with at least 50 percent saying they don’t approve in the Central Valley, Inland Empire, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Support for the measure is strongest with prospective voters making under $40,000, with 47 percent support.

Proposition 10, the measure to expand rent control by repealing the 1995 Costa-Hawkins Rental Housing Act, is seeing less support among likely voters, with only 36 percent approving.

Support is strongest with Democrats at 46 percent, but drops off significantly to 31 percent with independents and a meager 22 percent with Republicans.

The one beacon of hope for supporters is 16 percent of voters are still undecided, including 26 percent of Republicans surveyed.

There is no majority support for the measure in any region surveyed in California, but the opposition isn’t as strong as the opposition to Proposition 6. Only two regions, the San Francisco Bay Area and the Central Valley, have a majority in opposition.

Renters are more likely to back the measure than homeowners with 43 percent supporting versus 31 percent. Opposition is about even, hovering near 50 percent, but more homeowners are undecided on the measure.